Page 72 of Soup Sandwich
Katy looks at me and then back to the woman in confusion. “Yes.”
Mrs. Bible stares skeptically at her. “It’s not short for anything?”
Katy shakes her head, and this is not how I thought any of this would go with these check-ins. I thought they meet us, take a look around, check off some things on a form, and go. Katy pulls on the bottom of her pajama shirt, shifting her weight. She doesn’t know what to make of this woman and neither do I.
Mrs. Bible turns back to me. “You’re a doctor?”
Gulp. “Yes. A physician in the emergency department.”
“So that means you’re exposed to any patient carrying any disease that walks in through the hospital doors. Is that correct?”
Motherfuck, is she kidding me? “We take universal precautions with all patients to prevent the spreading and transmission of diseases.”
“And your shift hours?”
I do my best not to squirm or twitch, but I’m sweating bullets. “It varies, but I’ve already cut back my hours to accommodate Katy’s schedule.”
She stares at me for a solid minute before she makes some sort of noise in the back of her throat and then types more into her tablet. Then her eyes are back on me.
“It is my understanding that you’re engaged?”
“Yes.” The lie burns like acid on my tongue.
“Where is your fiancée?”
Good question. I have no clue. All I know is that she’s not here because she never came home after her shift this afternoon at the hospital. In fact, the only times I’ve seen her since Monday in court have been in class or the emergency department, both places where she completely ignores me. She sneaks in late at night and leaves early in the morning, and she barely speaks to me when I’m able to catch her for two seconds. She’s been ignoring my texts or responding with one-word answers.
It's brutal. It’s eating me alive actually.
I fucking miss her. I miss her smiles, her teasing, her laughter, the way she looks at me, and a thousand other things. I’ve spent this week thinking about what Fallon said to me outside the courthouse and I know what I want.
I want her.
But she doesn’t want me back—hell, at this point I think she hates my guts and resents me ever entering her life—and that’s glaringly obvious.
The only thing that hasn’t changed is her relationship with Katy.
Layla picked her up from camp on both Tuesday and Thursday afternoon and the two of them hung out. Layla took Katy to the bookstore at the Prudential Mall and Katy came home with about a dozen books. Layla had told her how reading, getting lost in fictitious worlds, helped her not be so sad and focus on something other than what she was missing.
Katy is flying through books—at the age of six—and I can’t say I’m upset about that at all. I love that Layla still prioritizes Katy. I’m just trying not to feel the afterburn her absence has left on me.
“She’s out with friends,” I say, hoping my tone is light and casual.
“Out with friends?”
Oh, boy. Mrs. Bible does not approve of that.
“I can call her,” I offer hastily, and she gives me a firm nod. Awesome. Now I just have to pray Layla picks up. I pull up her contact info and hit call. It rings and rings and then finally she picks up.
“Callan?” Her sweet voice tinkles in my ear, though wherever she is it’s loud and there are a lot of people. “Everything okay?”
“Hey, baby. Yeah, everything’s fine. I’m sorry to bother you when you’re out with your friends, but Mrs. Bible from social services is here paying us our first visit. Is there any way you can come home early?”
“Oh, hell. Callan, I’m so sorry I’m not there. I’m on my way now. It’ll take me no more than fifteen minutes tops.”
“Perfect. See you soon, baby. Love you.” I disconnect the call and slide my phone back into my pocket. “She’s on her way. Would you like something—”Beep. Beep. Beep. Fire in the kitchen. Beep. Beep. Beep.“Fuc-dge. The cookies!”
I fly into the kitchen where black smoke is billowing out of the top oven like a chimney. Fuck! I nearly said fuck in front of a woman named Mrs. Bible and now the smoke alarm is blaring, and it won’t shut up about a fire in the kitchen, and the cookies are burned beyond recognition, and justfuck!